CN108051006B

CN108051006B - Real-time path suggestion for mobile devices with location capability

Info

Publication number: CN108051006B
Application number: CN201810021455.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 扬·希恩·帕克
Original assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Current assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Priority date: 2012-10-23
Filing date: 2013-10-22
Publication date: 2021-04-02
Anticipated expiration: 2033-10-22
Also published as: CN108051006A; EP3712562B1; US20140113660A1; HUE050741T2; US11463840B2; WO2014066323A1; US10200818B2; EP2912409B1; JP6336993B2; US20190069134A1; EP2912409A1; ES2800624T3; US10455360B2; CN104736965B; EP3712562A1; US20200008013A1; CN104736965A; JP2015533416A

Abstract

The invention relates to real-time path suggestion for mobile devices with location capability. The invention relates to a navigation based on directionality. Embodiments determine a location and a direction of a mobile device, determine one or more paths from the mobile device to one or more destinations associated with a current location of the mobile device, and display one or more direction indicators corresponding to the one or more paths to the one or more destinations.

Description

Real-time path suggestion for mobile devices with location capability

Related information of divisional application

The application is a divisional application of an invention patent application with the international application date of 2013, 10 and 22, and the international application number of PCT/US2013/066079, and the invention name of a real-time path suggestion of a mobile device with positioning capability, and the application number of PCT application entering China national phase is 201380054641.9.

Claiming priority in accordance with 35U.S.C. § 119

The present patent application claims the benefit of united states provisional application No. 61/717,309 entitled "REAL-TIME PATH recommendation FOR LOCATION-ENABLED MOBILE DEVICE" filed on day 10/23 2012, which is assigned to the present assignee and is expressly incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The invention relates to real-time path suggestion for mobile devices with location capability.

Background

Modern handsets (e.g., smart phones) are typically able to determine their location within some degree of accuracy. When available, handsets typically rely on Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. The handset may use Local Positioning System (LPS) signals when GPS is not available, for example when the handset is indoors. In the LPS, the handset receives radio signals from at least three local transmitters (e.g., Wi-Fi transmitters) to triangulate its position. The handset may enhance this positioning through an internal Inertial Navigation System (INS). The INS continuously calculates the position, orientation, and velocity of the handset via dead reckoning using the handset's accelerometers (motion) and gyroscopes (rotation).

The handset may also execute a navigation application that guides the user from the current location of the handset to the identified destination. The navigation application provides turn-by-turn road guidance to the destination to the user using the continuously determined location of the handset and a map of the area in which the handset is located. The handset may display the entire route or just the area immediately surrounding the current location of the handset.

Because the display of the cell phone is small, the map from the current location of the cell phone to the destination is often too small to be read in detail, and the user must zoom in to see the next path to follow. If a routable path to a destination is not available, the user needs to zoom out to see the destination and attempt to determine a route intuitively.

In some situations, it may be difficult and/or inconvenient for a user to zoom in and out on a map continuously. Additionally or alternatively, the user may not want to spend time entering a destination, or turn-by-turn road directions may not be available even if the user enters a destination. For example, a user may have his or her hands full of luggage at an airport while attempting to find a particular gate, and turn-by-turn road directions may not be available even if the user spends time selecting the particular gate as a destination.

Accordingly, it would be beneficial if a cell phone could provide real-time directional indicators to nearby destinations and/or points of interest (POIs) at a given location (e.g., an airport, amusement park, shopping mall, movie theater, stadium, office building, etc.) as a user moves through the location.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention relates to a navigation based on directionality. A method for navigating based on directionality includes determining a location and a direction of a mobile device, determining one or more paths from the mobile device to one or more destinations associated with a current location of the mobile device, and displaying one or more directional indicators corresponding to the one or more paths to the one or more destinations.

An apparatus for navigating based on directionality includes logic configured to determine a location and a direction of a mobile device, logic configured to determine one or more paths from the mobile device to one or more destinations associated with a current location of the mobile device, and logic configured to display one or more direction indicators corresponding to the one or more paths to the one or more destinations.

An apparatus for navigating based on directionality includes means for determining a location and a direction of a mobile device, means for determining one or more paths from the mobile device to one or more destinations associated with a current location of the mobile device, and means for displaying one or more direction indicators corresponding to the one or more paths to the one or more destinations.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium for navigating based on directionality includes at least one instruction to determine a location and a direction of a mobile device, at least one instruction to determine one or more paths from the mobile device to one or more destinations associated with a current location of the mobile device, and at least one instruction to display one or more direction indicators corresponding to the one or more paths to the one or more destinations.

Drawings

A more complete appreciation of embodiments of the present invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are presented for purposes of illustration and not of limitation, and wherein:

fig. 1 illustrates an example of a User Equipment (UE) according to an embodiment.

Fig. 2A illustrates an exemplary screen shot of a UE running a navigation application according to an embodiment in an airport.

Fig. 2B illustrates an exemplary screen shot of a UE at a later point in time as compared to the exemplary screen shot illustrated in fig. 2A.

Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary flow of embodiments performed at a UE.

Fig. 4 illustrates a communication device including logic configured to perform functionality in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Aspects of the invention are disclosed in the following description and related drawings directed to specific embodiments. Alternative embodiments may be devised without departing from the scope of the invention. Additionally, well-known elements of the invention will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the invention.

The words "exemplary" and/or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" and/or "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Likewise, the term "embodiments of the invention" does not require that all embodiments of the invention include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

Further, many embodiments are described in terms of sequences of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be recognized that various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuits (e.g., Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Further, these sequence of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of computer readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that upon execution would cause an associated processor to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the invention may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Further, for each of the embodiments described herein, the corresponding form of any such embodiments may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to" (perform the described action).

A client device, referred to herein as User Equipment (UE), may be mobile or fixed and may communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" is interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT," "wireless device," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal," "mobile station," and variations thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may connect with an external network such as the internet. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and/or the internet are also possible for the UE, e.g., via a wired access network, a WiFi network (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), and so on. The UE may be embodied by any of a number of types of devices, including but not limited to PC card, compact flash, external or internal modem, wireless or wireline phone, and so forth. The communication link through which the UE can send signals to the RAN is called an uplink channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the RAN can send signals to the UEs is called a downlink or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term "Traffic Channel (TCH)" may refer to an uplink/reverse or downlink/forward traffic channel.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example of a UE according to an embodiment. Referring to fig. 1, a UE 100 is illustrated as a touchscreen device (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet, etc.). As shown in fig. 1, the housing of UE 100 is configured with a touchscreen display 105, peripheral buttons 110, 115, 120, and 125 (e.g., a power control button, a volume or vibration control button, an airplane mode switch button, etc.), at least one front panel button 130 (e.g., a home button, etc.), various sensors, speakers, and microphones (not shown), as well as other components as known in the art. Although not explicitly shown as part of the UE 100, the UE 100 may include one or more external antennas and/or one or more integrated antennas implemented into a housing of the UE 100, including, but not limited to, WiFi antennas, cellular antennas, Satellite Position System (SPS) antennas (e.g., Global Positioning System (GPS) antennas), and so forth.

While the internal components of a UE (e.g., UE 100) may be embodied using different hardware configurations, a basic high-level UE configuration of the internal hardware components is shown as platform 102 in fig. 1. The platform 102 may receive and execute software applications, data, and/or commands transmitted from a Radio Access Network (RAN), which may ultimately come from a core cellular network, the internet, and/or other remote servers and/or networks (e.g., application server, network URL, etc.). The platform 102 may also independently execute locally stored applications without RAN interaction. The platform 102 may include a GPS receiver 104 and a transceiver 106 operatively coupled to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)108 or other processor, microprocessor, logic circuit, or other data processing device. The ASIC 108 or other processor executes an Application Programming Interface (API)110 layer, the API 110 layer interfacing with any resident programs in the memory 114 of the wireless device. Memory 114 may include read-only memory (ROM) or Random Access Memory (RAM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash cards, or any memory common to computer platforms. The platform 102 may also include various sensors 112, such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, and/or the like. The platform 102 may also include a local database 116 that may store applications that are not actively used in the memory 114, as well as other data. The local database 116 is typically a flash memory cell, but may be any secondary storage device as known in the art, such as magnetic media, EEPROM, optical media, tape, soft or hard disk, or the like.

Accordingly, embodiments may include a UE (e.g., UE 100) that includes the capability to perform the functions described herein. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the various logic elements may be embodied in discrete elements, software modules executed on a processor, or any combination of software and hardware to achieve the functionality disclosed herein. For example, all of the ASIC 108, memory 114, API 110, and local database 116 may be used in a coordinated manner to load, store, and perform the various functions disclosed herein, and thus the logic for performing these functions may be distributed over various elements. Alternatively, the functionality may be incorporated into one discrete component. Accordingly, the features of the UE 100 in fig. 1 should be considered merely illustrative, and the invention is not limited to the illustrated features or arrangement.

The wireless communication between the UE 100 and the RAN may be based on different technologies, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), global system for mobile communications (GSM), or other protocols that may be used in a wireless communication network or a data communication network. As discussed in the foregoing and known in the art, voice transmissions and/or data may be transmitted from the RAN to the UE using a variety of networks and configurations. Accordingly, the illustrations provided herein are not intended to limit the various embodiments and are merely to aid in the description of aspects of the various embodiments.

Modern handsets (e.g., smart phones) are typically able to determine their location within some degree of accuracy. When available, handsets typically rely on Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. The handset may use Local Positioning System (LPS) signals when GPS is not available, for example when the handset is indoors, or to improve the accuracy of the GPS location. In the LPS, the handset receives radio signals from at least three local transmitters (e.g., Wi-Fi transmitters) to triangulate its position. The handset may enhance its GPS and/or LPS positioning via an internal Inertial Navigation System (INS). The INS uses the handset accelerometer (motion) and gyroscope (rotation) to continuously calculate the position, orientation, and velocity of the handset via dead reckoning.

The handset may also execute a navigation application that guides the user from the current location of the handset to a specified destination. The navigation application provides turn-by-turn road guidance to the destination to the user using the continuously determined location of the cell phone and a map of the area in which the cell phone is located. The handset may display the entire route or just the area immediately surrounding the current location of the handset.

Accordingly, various embodiments are directed to providing real-time directional indicators to nearby points of interest (POIs) or groups of POIs at a given location as a user moves past the location. The venue may be an indoor or outdoor venue such as an airport, amusement park, shopping mall, movie theater, stadium, office building, market place, nature reserve, zoo, and the like.

In embodiments, a user may open a map of a location, or an interactive virtual tour, in the User Interface (UI) of his or her UE. The map may be obtained as a download from a party or third party affiliated with the site, or it may be pre-installed on the UE. The map may be two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D), and may be as simplistic or realistic as the map provider makes it. The user may also have the option to switch between these different view types of the map.

The map may be preloaded with several POIs, or the UE may download POI data for a location. The "points of interest" may be defined or identified by the map provider. For example, if the location is an airport, the map provider may determine that gate, airport, restaurant, store, restroom, kiosk, car rental service station, baggage carousel, and the like are points of interest. If the location is, for example, an amusement park, the map provider may determine that a ride point, a food station, a restroom, a picnic place, and the like are points of interest. If the location is a zoo (as another example), the map provider may determine that various animal exhibit points, food stations, restrooms, monument stores, and the like are points of interest.

The POIs may be classified and grouped by the map provider, or the POI data may include metadata describing the POIs so that the UE may classify and group POIs in real time. For example, POIs at airports may be classified as "gate-ups" and grouped as "gate-ups in airport a". When there are a large number of POIs, the UE may group POIs at a coarser level of granularity, and when there are fewer POIs, the UE may group POIs at a finer level of granularity.

As is known in the art, after a UE obtains its location using GPS signals, LPS signals, and/or its INS, it determines the distance and path from its current location to the POI or POI group at the location. The path from the UE to the POI may include several segments, meaning that the user will have to turn to reach the POI again. The UE then displays a direction indicator to each of the POIs or groups of POIs. The direction indicator points to the direction of the first segment of the route to the POI. In this way, the user may follow a particular path to the POI, rather than simply being presented with an indication of the general direction to the POI.

The direction indicator may be an arrow or some other visual indicator that indicates the direction of the POI. For example, the indicator may be a blinking dot, a series of animated dashes (with the dashes sequentially highlighted from user location to POI), an icon of the user moving toward the POI, and so forth. The indicator may include information about the POI, such as a name, a type, and/or a distance from the user's current location. For example, in an airport where the arrow points to certain gates (except for the arrow overlaid on the map), the indicator may show information that may be shown in a physical symbol. The indicator may also provide a visual indication of the name, type, and/or relative distance using, for example, the color and/or size of the indicator. For example, nearby POIs may be indicated by short thick arrows and distant POIs by long thin arrows.

If there are too many POIs for the UI to display an indicator to all POIs, the indicator may point to individual POIs close to the UE and groups of POIs far from the UE. A "close" POI may be one that is within a threshold distance from the UE location. The threshold may be based on the number of POIs at the location and/or the size of the location. For example, a large site with a large number of POIs (e.g., an amusement park with a large number of ride points, restaurants, lounges, etc.) will have a lower threshold (e.g., 50 meters) than a smaller site with a few POIs (e.g., an office building with only a few conference rooms, offices, and receptionists), which may have a threshold of 100 meters, for example. The threshold may also or alternatively be based on display attributes of the UE, such as display size and/or aspect ratio.

When the user approaches a coarse-grained POI grouping, the UE may optimize the coarse grouping into multiple finer-grained groupings. For example, the UE may combine gates at airports that are within a threshold distance of each other (e.g., all gates in an airport) into one group. When a user approaches or enters an airport, the UE may divide large packets into smaller packets, such as grouping gates in the airport based on distance from the user, gate number, which side of the airport, and so on. In this way, when there are more POIs than can be comfortably displayed on the UE, the interface may point to groups of POIs, and when the user is closer to the groups, the UE may divide the groups until the user is close enough so that the UE may point to a particular POI within the group.

The UE displays an indicator to the POI in front or to the side of the user (i.e., in the direction the user is facing or traveling). The UE may determine its orientation, and thus the direction in which the user is facing, based on its accelerometer and/or gyroscope. As the user's location changes, the direction of the indicator changes, thereby indicating a path to the POI in real time. When the user passes through a POI, the indicator pointing to the POI disappears, since it is clear that the user is not interested in the POI. The UE may display another indicator to another POI such that the UE continues to display the same number of indicators. If the user turns, the indicator updates to point to the POI now in front and to the side of the user.

Whenever the user moves the UE, the UE may use hysteresis to prevent it from attempting to update the path and/or display, thereby conserving processing power. For example, after the user begins moving in a particular direction, the UE may wait a threshold period of time (e.g., one second) before updating the path and/or display. Additionally, when the user turns, the UE may wait a threshold period of time (e.g., one second) after the user stops turning before updating the path and/or display. In this way, the user can turn and hold the UE in a particular direction to see what POIs are in that direction, but turning to see something while the user is walking will not cause the UE to update the display.

When the user arrives at the POI, as may be determined by the user remaining within a threshold distance of the POI for more than a threshold period of time, the UE may close the navigation application, switch the navigation application to a background mode, or continue running the navigation application until the user manually exits the navigation application. Upon detecting that the user has reached the POI, the UE may also provide additional information about the POI. For example, if the POI is a particular store, the UE may open a webpage about the store in an internet browser application.

The user may configure many features of the navigation application. The user may configure the maximum and/or minimum number of indicators to be displayed at any given time. For example, the user may set the minimum number of indicators to "2" and the maximum number of indicators to "8". The UE will then display anywhere from two to eight indicators, depending on the number of POIs, grouping of POIs, distance to POIs, etc.

The user may also configure how the indicator displays information about the POI. For example, the user may configure the indicator to display the name and type of the POI or group of POIs and the distance to the POI or group of POIs. The user may configure the indicator to display this information using the text, color, size, etc. of the indicator. The user may also configure the unit of measure (e.g., feet, yards, meters, etc.) used to represent the distance.

The user may also configure the type of POI for which the presentation indicator is intended. For example, at an airport, a user may configure a UE to display indicators for a rest room, coffee shop, and gate, rather than a rental car center or kiosk.

The user may also configure what the UE should do after reaching the POI. For example, the user may configure the UE to exit the navigation application, switch it to a background mode, open a web page about a POI, and so on. There are many features of the navigation application that may be configured by a user, and the various embodiments are not limited to the configurations listed herein.

The user may also manipulate the indicators or groupings of indicators. For example, touching an indicator may cause the display of a menu that allows the user to edit display attributes (e.g., color, width, font, etc.) for that indicator or corresponding POI. The user may be able to modify the groupings, such as add POIs to another group, remove POIs from a group, and so on. The user may also be able to delete the indicator or POI, or delete one or more of the groups of indicators or POIs.

In embodiments, the UE may provide an audible indicator that indicates at least a direction and distance to one or more POIs instead of or in addition to the visual indicator. For example, the UE may play the indicators: "walk straight 20 meters rest room". The UE may play audible indicators for multiple POIs, and then after a period of time, play audible indicators for POIs based on the user's new location. For example, the UE may play the indicators: "walk straight 20 meters lounge, walk straight 30 meters gate 1 to 10", then after a few seconds, "walk straight 15 meters lounge, walk straight 25 meters gate 1 to 10".

In this audible mode, the UE may limit the number of POIs or groups of POIs so that the user is not overwhelmed by the number of audible indicators. The UE may provide a voice command interface to permit the user to configure the navigation application as discussed above.

Fig. 2A illustrates an exemplary screen shot of a UE (e.g., UE 100) running a navigation application in an airport. In fig. 2A, the user's location is indicated by a circle and the POI indicator is an arrow. Each arrow shows a distance to the POI, and the text labels associated with the arrows show the type of POI. For example, indicator 202 indicates that the food square is 53 meters in front and to the left of the user. A "food plaza" is a grouping of POIs that have been combined and labeled "food plaza" based on the following facts: the groupings of POIs are all restaurants in a certain category that are in close proximity to each other. Alternatively, the map provider may have grouped the POIs into a "food square" group and given the name.

Indicator 204 indicates gates 1-10 are 147 meters in front and to the user's right. Like the "food square" group, the "gates 1-10" are a group of ten POIs (with each gate being a POI) that have been combined based on the proximity of the gates to each other and labeled "gates 1-10". In the same way, indicator 208 indicates that gates 11-20 are 75 meters to the user's right.

Indicator 206 indicates that a group of restrooms is 22 meters to the left of the user. A "restroom" is an example of an individual POI (and a group of POIs) because the restrooms of men and women are typically located close to each other. However, in alternative embodiments, the restrooms of men and women may be separate POIs.

Fig. 2B illustrates an exemplary screen shot of the UE 100 at a later point in time as compared to the exemplary screen shot illustrated in fig. 2A. As in fig. 2A, in fig. 2B, the user's location is indicated by a circle and the POI indicator is an arrow. In fig. 2B, the user has approached gates 1-10 and is now close enough so that the UE has separated the coarse-grained packets "gates 1-10" into two finer-grained packets "gates 1-5" and "gates 6-10". Thus, indicator 214 indicates that gates 1-5 are 42 meters in front and to the user's right and indicator 218 indicates that gates 6-10 are 8 meters to the user's right.

Indicator 212 indicates that a group of restrooms is 26 meters in front of the left of the user. This is a different set of restrooms than the restrooms pointed to by indicator 206 in fig. 2A. Indicator 216 indicates that the coffee shop is 16 meters to the left. This coffee shop may not be in the "food square" grouping of POIs pointed to by the indicator 202, but it may be because the user has moved 105 meters from the example screenshot shown in fig. 2A.

In fig. 2A, three of the four indicators point to POI groups, i.e., "food squares", "gate 1 to 10", and "gate 11 to 20". In fig. 2B, only two of the four indicators point to POI groups, namely "gate 1 to 5" and "gate 6 to 10". This is because in fig. 2B the user is now close enough to the POI and/or there are few POIs in front of the user enough that the UE does not need to be grouped like many POIs.

Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary flow of embodiments performed at a UE (e.g., UE 100). At 305, the UE 100 loads a map of a given place. For example, an application running on the UE 100 may load a map from a local database (e.g., local database 116) into a working memory (e.g., memory 114). Alternatively, the UE 100 may download the map from a remote server via a wired or wireless connection. As discussed above, the venue may be an airport, amusement park, shopping mall, movie theater, stadium, office building, and so forth. The UE 100 may detect that it is at this location and determine whether a map of the location is stored in its memory or available for download.

At 310, the UE 100 receives POI data. The UE 100 may load this data from local memory or download this data. The POI data may be included with the map data or be separately downloaded data. At 315, the UE 100 determines its position and orientation. As discussed above, the UE may determine its location using GPS signals and/or LPS signals, and may determine its direction using integrated accelerometers and gyroscopes.

At 320, the UE 100 determines the distance and direction to the POI. At 325, the UE 100 determines whether the number of POIs is greater than a threshold. The number of POIs may be all POIs available for the location, or only POIs of the type specified by the user and POIs for which the user wishes to receive directions. As discussed above, the threshold is based on the size of the location and the number of POIs.

If the number of POIs is greater than the threshold, the UE 100 groups the POIs into one or more groups at 330. The grouping may be based on user preferences, proximity of the POIs to each other and/or the UE, types of POIs available, etc.

At 335, if the number of POIs does not exceed the threshold, or after grouping the POIs at 330, the UE 100 displays or plays multiple indicators to the POIs and/or POI groupings. The indicator shows at least the direction to the POI and the name of the POI, and may also show distance and/or other information. To continuously or at least periodically update the POI indicator, flow returns to 315.

Fig. 4 illustrates a communication device 400 that includes logic configured to perform functionality. The communication device 400 may correspond to any of the communication devices mentioned above, including but not limited to the UE 100.

Referring to fig. 4, a communication device 400 includes logic 405 configured to receive and/or transmit information. In an example, if the communication device 400 corresponds to a wireless communication device (e.g., UE 100), the logic configured to receive and/or transmit information 405 can include a wireless communication interface (e.g., bluetooth, WiFi, 2G, CDMA, W-CDMA, 3G, 4G, LTE, GPS, etc.), such as a wireless transceiver and associated hardware (e.g., an RF antenna, a modem, a modulator and/or demodulator, etc.). In another example, the logic configured to receive and/or transmit information 405 can correspond to a wired communication interface (e.g., a serial connection, a USB or firewire connection, an ethernet connection over which the internet 175 can be accessed, etc.). In another example, the logic configured to receive and/or transmit information 405 may include sensory or measurement hardware (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, temperature sensors, light sensors, antennas for monitoring local RF signals, etc.) by which the communication device 400 may monitor its local environment. The logic configured to receive and/or transmit information 405 may include logic configured to determine a location and an orientation of the communication device 400. The logic configured to receive and/or transmit information 405 may also include software that, when executed, permits associated hardware of the logic configured to receive and/or transmit information 405 to perform its receiving and/or transmitting functions. However, the logic configured to receive and/or transmit information 405 does not correspond to software alone, and the logic configured to receive and/or transmit information 405 relies at least in part on hardware to achieve its functionality.

Referring to fig. 4, the communication device 400 further includes logic 410 configured to process information. In an example, the logic configured to process information 410 may include at least a processor. Example implementations of the type of processing that may be performed by the logic configured to process information 410 include, but are not limited to, performing determinations, establishing connections, selecting between different information options, performing data-related evaluations, interacting with sensors coupled to the communication device 400 to perform measurement operations, converting information from one format to another (e.g., between different protocols, e.g.,. wmv to. avi, etc.), and so forth. For example, the logic configured to process information 410 may include logic configured to determine a location and an orientation of the communication device 400 and/or logic configured to determine one or more paths from the communication device 400 to one or more destinations associated with a current location of the communication device 400. For example, a processor included in the logic configured to process information 410 may correspond to a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an ASIC, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. The logic configured to process information 410 may also include software that, when executed, permits associated hardware of the logic configured to process information 410 to perform its processing functions. However, the logic configured to process information 410 does not correspond to software alone, and the logic configured to process information 410 relies at least in part on hardware to achieve its functionality.

Referring to fig. 4, the communication device 400 further includes logic 415 configured to store information. In an example, the logic configured to store information 415 can include at least non-transitory memory and associated hardware (e.g., a memory controller, etc.). For example, the non-transitory memory included in the logic configured to store information 415 may correspond to RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. The logic configured to store information 415 may also include software that, when executed, permits associated hardware of the logic configured to store information 415 to perform its storage function. However, the logic configured to store information 415 does not correspond to software alone, and the logic configured to store information 415 relies at least in part on hardware to achieve its functionality.

Referring to fig. 4, the communication device 400 further optionally includes logic configured to present information 420. In an example, the logic configured to present information 420 can include at least an output device and associated hardware. For example, the output device may include a video output device (e.g., a display screen, a port that may carry video information, such as USB, HDMI, etc.), an audio output device (e.g., a speaker, a port that may carry audio information, such as a microphone jack, USB, HDMI, etc.), a vibrating device, and/or any other device by which information may be formatted for output or actually output by a user or operator of the communication device 400. For example, if the communication device 400 corresponds to the UE 100 as shown in fig. 1, the logic configured to present information 420 may include the touchscreen display 105 of the UE 100. The logic configured to present information 420 may also include logic configured to display one or more direction indicators corresponding to one or more paths to one or more destinations. The logic configured to present information 420 may also include software that, when executed, permits associated hardware of the logic configured to present information 420 to perform its presentation functions. However, the logic configured to present information 420 does not correspond to software alone, and the logic configured to present information 420 relies at least in part on hardware to achieve its functionality.

Referring to fig. 4, the communication device 400 further optionally includes logic 425 configured to receive local user input. In an example, the logic configured to receive local user input 425 may include at least one user input device and associated hardware. For example, the user input device may include a button, a touch screen display, a keyboard, a camera, an audio input device (e.g., a microphone or a port that can carry audio information, such as a microphone jack, etc.), and/or any other device by which information may be received from a user or operator of the communication device 400. For example, if the communication device 400 corresponds to the UE 100 as shown in fig. 1, the logic configured to receive local user input 425 may include any of the buttons 115 or 110-125, the touchscreen display 105, and so on. The logic configured to receive local user input 425 may also include software that, when executed, permits associated hardware of the logic configured to receive local user input 425 to perform its input receiving function. However, the logic configured to receive local user input 425 does not correspond to software alone, and the logic configured to receive local user input 425 relies at least in part on hardware to achieve its functionality.

Referring to fig. 4, although the configured logic 405-425 is shown in fig. 4 as separate or distinct blocks, it should be appreciated that the hardware and/or software by which the respective configured logic performs its functionality may partially overlap. For example, any software to facilitate the functionality of the configured logics 405-425 may be stored in a non-transitory memory associated with the logic configured to store information 415, such that the configured logics 405-425 each perform their functionality (i.e., in this case, software execution) based in part on the operation of the software stored by the logic configured to store information 415. Likewise, hardware directly associated with one of the configured logic may be borrowed or used by other configured logic from time to time. For example, a processor of the logic configured to process information 410 formats data into an appropriate format prior to transmission by the logic configured to receive and/or transmit information 405, such that the logic configured to receive and/or transmit information 405 performs its functionality (i.e., in this case, transmission of data) based in part on the operation of hardware (i.e., the processor) associated with the logic configured to process information 410.

Generally, the phrase "logic configured to.. as used throughout this disclosure is intended to invoke an embodiment that is implemented at least in part in hardware, and is not intended to map to a hardware-independent software-only implementation, unless expressly stated otherwise. Also, it should be understood that the configured logic or logic "configured in. Thus, configured logic or logic configured as illustrated in the various blocks is not necessarily implemented as logic gates or logic elements, although the word "logic" is shared. Other interactions or synergies between the logic in the various blocks will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from a review of the above-described embodiments.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

Furthermore, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative embodiments of the invention, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and/or actions of the method claims in accordance with the embodiments of the invention described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the invention may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

Claims

1. A method for navigating based on directionality, comprising:

determining a position and orientation of a mobile device;

identifying a plurality of points of interest associated with a current location of the mobile device based on the location and the orientation of the mobile device;

determining whether a number of the plurality of points of interest in a direction that the mobile device is facing or traveling is greater than a threshold;

based on the number of the plurality of points of interest in the direction in which the mobile device is facing or traveling being greater than the threshold, combining the plurality of points of interest into one or more point of interest groupings;

determining one or more paths from the mobile device to one or more point of interest packets; and

at the mobile device, displaying one or more indicators corresponding to the one or more paths to the one or more point of interest packets.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the location of the mobile device is based at least in part on Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Local Positioning System (LPS) signals, and/or sensors integrated into the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the direction of the mobile device is based, at least in part, on a signal received from a sensor of the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining one or more distances along the one or more paths from the mobile device to the one or more point of interest packets.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more indicators include an indication of the one or more distances from the mobile device to the one or more packets of interest.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating the one or more paths, the one or more point of interest packets, and/or the one or more indicators based on movement of the mobile device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the updating comprises:

updating the one or more paths, the one or more point of interest packets, and/or the one or more indicators when the mobile device moves toward one of the one or more point of interest packets.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the mobile device is within a threshold distance of one of the one or more point of interest groupings; and

in response, the one of the one or more point of interest packets is divided into individual points of interest and/or one or more smaller packets of points of interest.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the current location is one of an airport, an amusement park, a shopping mall, a movie theater, a stadium, a zoo, a park, or an office building.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the one or more point of interest groupings comprise one or more gate entries in the airport.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more point of interest groupings comprise points of interest within the current location.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more indicators comprise one or more arrows pointed to toward the one or more point of interest packets.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein a user is allowed to edit the one or more indicators.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the editing comprises changing a property of an indicator or a grouping of indicators.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein changing the attribute comprises grouping, ungrouping, or deleting an indicator.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein changing the attribute comprises changing a color, size, or font of an indicator or a grouping of indicators.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

playing one or more audible indicators corresponding to the one or more paths to the one or more point of interest packets.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting that the mobile device reaches a point of interest of the plurality of points of interest.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

in response to the detecting, performing one or more of:

displaying one or more indicators corresponding to one or more paths to one or more points of interest,

close the application that provided the one or more indicators,

switching the application to a background mode, or

Providing information about the point of interest.

20. An apparatus for navigating based on directionality, comprising:

logic configured to determine a location and an orientation of a mobile device;

logic configured to identify a plurality of points of interest associated with a current location of the mobile device based on the location and the orientation of the mobile device;

logic configured to determine whether a number of the plurality of points of interest in a direction that the mobile device is facing or traveling is greater than a threshold;

logic configured to combine the plurality of points of interest into one or more point of interest groups based on the number of the plurality of points of interest in the direction in which the mobile device is facing or traveling being greater than the threshold;

logic configured to determine one or more paths from the mobile device to one or more point of interest packets; and

logic configured to display, at the mobile device, one or more indicators corresponding to the one or more paths to the one or more point of interest packets.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising:

logic configured to determine one or more distances along the one or more paths from the mobile device to the one or more point of interest packets.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the one or more indicators include an indication of the one or more distances from the mobile device to the one or more packets of interest.

23. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising:

logic configured to update the one or more paths, the one or more point of interest packets, and/or the one or more indicators based on movement of the mobile device.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising:

logic configured to determine that the mobile device is within a threshold distance of one of the one or more groups of points of interest; and

logic configured to, in response, divide the one of the one or more groups of points of interest into individual points of interest and/or one or more smaller groups of points of interest.

25. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein a user is allowed to edit the one or more indicators.

26. An apparatus for navigating based on directionality, comprising:

means for determining a position and an orientation of a mobile device;

means for identifying a plurality of points of interest associated with a current location of the mobile device based on the location and the direction of the mobile device;

means for determining whether a number of the plurality of points of interest in a direction that the mobile device is facing or traveling is greater than a threshold;

means for combining the plurality of points of interest into one or more point of interest groupings based on the number of the plurality of points of interest in the direction in which the mobile device is facing or traveling being greater than the threshold;

means for determining one or more paths from the mobile device to one or more point of interest packets; and

means for displaying, at the mobile device, one or more indicators corresponding to the one or more paths to the one or more point of interest packets.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

means for determining one or more distances along the one or more paths from the mobile device to the one or more point of interest packets.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the one or more indicators include an indication of the one or more distances from the mobile device to the one or more packets of interest.

29. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

means for updating the one or more paths, the one or more point of interest packets, and/or the one or more indicators based on movement of the mobile device.

30. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising:

means for determining that the mobile device is within a threshold distance of one of the one or more point of interest packets; and

means for dividing, in response, the one of the one or more point of interest packets into individual points of interest and/or one or more smaller packets of points of interest.

31. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein a user is allowed to edit the one or more indicators.

32. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for navigating based on directionality, comprising:

at least one instruction to determine a position and an orientation of a mobile device;

at least one instruction to identify a plurality of points of interest associated with a current location of the mobile device based on the location and the direction of the mobile device;

at least one instruction to determine whether a number of the plurality of points of interest in a direction the mobile device is facing or traveling is greater than a threshold;

at least one instruction to combine the plurality of points of interest into one or more point of interest groupings based on the number of the plurality of points of interest in the direction in which the mobile device is facing or traveling being greater than the threshold;

at least one instruction to determine one or more paths from the mobile device to one or more point of interest packets; and

at least one instruction to display, at the mobile device, one or more indicators corresponding to the one or more paths to the one or more point of interest packets.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 32, further comprising:

at least one instruction to determine one or more distances along the one or more paths from the mobile device to the one or more point of interest packets.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 33, wherein the one or more indicators include an indication of the one or more distances from the mobile device to the one or more packets of interest.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 32, further comprising:

at least one instruction to update the one or more paths, the one or more point of interest packets, and/or the one or more indicators based on movement of the mobile device.

36. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 32, further comprising:

at least one instruction to determine that the mobile device is within a threshold distance of one of the one or more groups of points of interest; and

at least one instruction to responsively divide the one of the one or more point of interest groups into individual points of interest and/or one or more smaller groups of points of interest.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 32, wherein a user is allowed to edit the one or more indicators.